1. Open the map of plate boundaries and the map of volcanoes.

Spend 3-5 minutes examining the

pattern of volcanoes relative to the tectonic boundaries and consider the following questions:
a. Are volcanoes present at ALL boundaries? No there are not.
b. Where volcanoes do occur at or near a plate boundary, how would you describe their
distribution? Do they occur in a linear pattern? A clustered pattern? Are there many volcanoes
occurring in a small area? Are the volcanoes spread out? Is there no discernable pattern at all?
How does the location of the volcanoes relate to the boundary itself? Do they occur on top of
the boundary? On both sides of the boundary? Just one side of the boundary? Keep in mind
that the patterns or trends you observe may not be the same at all boundaries. In the majority
of cases volcanoes that are at or near a plate boundary occur in linear patterns that are
fairly continuous and clustered rather than spread out. However, these linear patters of
volcanoes do extend for entire continents with few pauses. Although it is difficult to tell
from the maps given the volcanoes generally occur to one side of the plate boundary that
they are associated with. One other observation is that there are very few volcanoes in
the ocean, and they seem to be related to the location of small islands.
c. Based on your observations, count how many “unique” plate boundaries can you identify on
the basis of these observations. Make a list of these unique boundaries, labeled V1, V2, etc.,
and write a brief description that summarizes the expected pattern of volcanoes (or lack of
volcanoes) corresponding to each. V1: Subduction volcanoes such as those along the North
American Cascade Mountains, the South American Andes Mountains and the Pacific
Rim Islands such as Japan, New Zealand and Indonesian islands. These are long strands
of volcanoes that follow the general form of the tectonic plate boundaries. V2: Scattered
island volcanoes are those that form islands such as Hawaii, Canary Islands etc. These
volcanoes are usually relatively far away from the associated tectonic plate boundary.
V3: Scattered inland volcanoes are generally far away from tectonic plate boundaries
such as some that are found in Antarctica and in the middle of the Eurasian Plate, these
may be created in similar manner as the scattered island volcanoes.
 
2. Open the map of plate boundaries and the map of earthquakes. Spend 3-5 minutes examining the
pattern of volcanoes relative to the tectonic boundaries and consider the following questions:
a. Are earthquakes present at ALL boundaries? Yes
b. Where earthquakes do occur at or near a plate boundary, how would you describe their
distribution? Do they occur in a linear pattern? A clustered pattern? Are there many
earthquakes occurring in a small area? Are the earthquakes spread out? Is there no discernable
pattern at all? How does the location of the earthquakes relate to the boundary itself? Do they
occur on top of the boundary? On both sides of the boundary? Just one side of the boundary?
Is the depth of the earthquakes the same at all locations near the boundary? If not, how does it
change in relation to distance from the boundary? Is there a pattern you can describe? Keep in
mind that the patterns or trends you observe may not be the same at all boundaries. While
there are certain boundaries that seem more active than others, in general earthquakes
occur in clusters along the boundary lines, usually right above the boundaries shown in
our maps. There are certain areas like the area above the Indian Plate that show a more
scattered pattern of earthquakes.
c. Based on your observations, how many “unique” plate boundaries can you identify on the
basis of these observations? Make a list of these unique boundaries, labeled E1, E2, etc., and
write a brief description that summarizes the expected pattern of earthquakes (or lack of
earthquakes) corresponding to each. E1: Ocean plate boundaries exhibit more scattered
and less frequent measured earthquakes. E2: Active Continent Edge boundaries seem to
be the areas that experience earthquakes more frequently, without having a clear
understanding of the color scheme used in the map it is impossible to know whether
these are also stronger earthquakes. E3: Less Active Internal boundaries are found
within a continent, particularly the Eurasian continent, there are fewer and more
scattered earthquakes in this area.
 
3. Open the map of plate boundaries and the map of Earth’s topography and bathymetry. Spend 3-5
minutes examining the pattern of elevation relative to the tectonic boundaries and consider the
following questions:
 a. Are there any distinct patterns in elevation that occur at or near a plate boundary? If so, how
would you describe these patterns? Is there a mountain chain? A trench? Be sure to look at
both sides of the boundary. Where distinct features like mountains or a trench occur, are they
observed on both sides of the boundary or just one? Are there some boundaries where more
than one distinct change or pattern in elevation occurs? Be sure to look at both the ocean floor
and the continent. In your descriptions, be sure to discuss the pattern of any distinct features.
Are features linear? Clustered? Random? There are always large topographic changes near
a plate boundary, these can be both positive and negative in elevation. As a result there
are both mountain chains and trenches along plate boundaries, sometimes along the
same boundary such as the trenches along the Californian and Japanese coasts and the
mountain ranges that can be found a relatively short distance inland. The topographic
features seem to be linear.
b. Based on your observations, how many “unique” plate boundaries can you identify on the
basis of these observations? Make a list of these unique boundaries, labeled T1, T2, etc., and
write a brief description that summarizes the expected pattern of topography and bathymetry
corresponding to each. T1: Continent Edge is characterized by the very large changes in
elevation that occur along continent edges that are formed next to a tectonic plate
boundary. These paired trenches and mountain ranges can be found on either side of the
Pacific Ocean, and to a lesser extent between the Arabian Plate and the African Plate.
T2: Mid Ocean plate boundaries are generally accompanied by a smaller more gradual
change in topography and can be found in all oceans. There are exceptions where the
change in topography is more pronounced such as segments of the boundary between the
South American Plate and the Antarctic Plate, and the area around Iceland between the
North American and Eurasian Plate.
 
4. Open the map of plate boundaries and the map of seafloor age. Spend 3-5 minutes examining the
pattern of seafloor age relative to the tectonic boundaries found in the ocean basins and consider
the following questions:
 
a. Is the age of the seafloor the same at all boundaries? If not, where is it the youngest? Where is
it the oldest? Based on the incomplete information presented in the map the age of the
seafloor is not the same at all boundaries. There are certain ocean boundaries that do
not have any color shown and there are also certain areas such as the boundary between
the Indian Plate and the Australian Plate that would seem to be around 50 to 100 million
years older than the younger more active areas of the seafloor.
b. Is there a discernable pattern relative to the position of different boundaries? For example,
does age increase/decrease in the same way on both sides of the boundary or does it only
change on one side of the boundary? Based on the information included in the map the age
increases in a similar way on either side of the plate boundary.
c. Based on your observations, how many “unique” plate boundaries can you identify on the
basis of the age of the seafloor? Make a list of these unique boundaries, labeled S1, S2, etc.,
and write a brief description that summarizes the patterns corresponding to each. Based on
the information included in the map there seems to be S1: Active Young plate
boundaries that are constantly creating new seafloor along their edges. S2: It is difficult
to clearly define the characteristics of the boundaries that are near seafloor that has not
been created recently but they seem to be near existing island chains.